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Satire
Definition of Setting
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or it can be an imagined... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the... read full definition
Setting
Explanation and Analysis:
Notes from Underground takes place in the 1840s and the 1860s in St. Petersburg, Russia. The first part, where little action occurs and the narrator describes his philosophical musings, takes place in the 1860s, but the story of how he ended up underground, described in Part 2, happens in the 1840s. Dostoevsky wrote the Notes as a response to certain ideas popular in Russia at the time, particularly Nikolai Chernyshevsky's What is To Be Done?, and these ideas are often alluded to throughout the novella, showing The Underground Man's time period.
Russian arguments of the time were filled with social and philosophical debates, often centering around the role and meaning of human nature. St. Petersburg has historically been the arts and culture center of Russia and, during the 19th century, was the capital of the Russian Empire. It was a global center of intellectual thought and discourse. Additionally, Russia was industrializing during the 19th century, albeit at a slower pace than many other countries, and social life was changing as well. Serfdom—the system of indentured servitude and debt exploitation—was abolished in the Russian Empire in 1861, and the social climate in Russia was rapidly changing. Positioning Notes in St. Petersburg means that The Underground Man was in the center of massive cultural and social shifts, even when he lived in isolation. It grounds the novella as a product of its time and exhibits the common ideas about human nature at that time while simultaneously arguing against them.
Related Themes:
